A longtime member of Valley View Christian Church in Dallas, Texas, has been nominated to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Harriet Miers, 60, was nominated by President Bush to replace outgoing Justice Sandra Day O’Connor during an Oval Office ceremony this morning (Monday, October 3).

“Harriet is just an outstanding Christian woman,” said Barry McCarty, preaching minister with Valley View Christian Church. “She is very well respected in the city of Dallas and well loved by the people in our church.”

(Miers was profiled in the November 4, 2001, issue of CHRISTIAN STANDARD—see below.)

Miers has served at the White House since President Bush took office in 2001, first as staff secretary—in charge of reading every piece of paper that crossed the president’s desk—and then as White House counsel, a position to which she was appointed in 2004.

President Bush spoke highly of Miers this morning: “For the past five years Harriet Miers has served in critical roles in our nation’s government.”

“If confirmed,” said Miers, “I recognize that I will have a tremendous responsibility to keep our judicial system strong and to help ensure that the courts meet their obligations to strictly apply the laws and the Constitution.”

At Valley View, Miers served on the Missions Committee and in the children’s ministry.

McCarty said Miers’s continuing concern for world missions was evident this spring. McCarty serves on the board of Central India Christian Mission, which was meeting in Washington, D.C., in March. Miers knew of the meeting, and hosted McCarty and missionary Ajai Lall for lunch at the White House.

Miers worships at Valley View on those infrequent weekends when she is in Dallas, McCarty said. She is at ease interacting with all members of the congregation.

“Unless you knew who she was, you would have no idea you were looking at one of the most powerful women in the country,” McCarty said.

McCarty said many in Dallas knew Miers’ appointment to a position on the Supreme Court was a possibility, and that his anticipation grew when he learned the president would announce his choice this morning.

If confirmed by the Senate, Miers, 60, would join Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second sitting female justice on the bench.